Roll for ironers



Feb. 24, 194s.

'Js B. sANDo'- ROLL FOR IRoNERs 2 Sheets'-Sheet 1 Filed Jul-y 17l 1943Patented Feb. 24, 1948 UNI TED S TAT ES F FICE ROLLFOR IRONERS Joseph B.Sando, Kansas v.City,.iMo.,.fassignor lto kWestern Laundry :MachinerylCompany, .a :cor-

poration of-Missouri .Application July '17, 1943, Serial No. 495,180 `InkCanada J une "'11, 1943 fMy invention vrelates to ironing "machines, fand .more particularly to heated rlls'for ironers, and

is particularly adapted for finishing rolls for ironers. This isacontinuation in part of my .applicationfSerial No.:370.039, ledDecember1'3,

1940, vvon Finishing lroll `for flat work ironer, 'patented February 26,l1946, :Patent No. 2,395,764.

Inheated rollsfor ironers,-particularly wrinkle lremoving frolls for"nat workironersit is desirable to provide a very higl-lyl1eated surfacethereon,l and vit lis' the principal-purpose of my invention vto'provide'means lvfor heating anironer roll in a manner suchthata Lveryhigh temperature canfbe obtained. atthe-ironing surface. This lisaccomplished'by providing a narrow annular passagewayfor theneatingfluid runninglength- `-wiseofvsaid roll closely adjacent the innersurlface of the wall, ythe `outer surface Yof which forms-theAironngsurface of thel'roll, andto pass a heating :fluidthrough vsaidnarrow passage at a. :rapid rate to thus lprovide ffor 'heat exchangeever, that fthe `wrinkle removing or other -highly heated -ro1l, bevconnected with a steam supply line-for theironer in such amanner thatvthe live .steam passes 4from the source of supply through 'the `.narrowpassage in the roll at high velocity Ito the steam chest,:tor-'chestsJof the ironer. -Such lironersordinarily-have more than one chest,and

.iniviewofthe fact Ythat condensation will be takv.ing place-in thesechests, there will'be aconstant flow of steam athigh-ve1ocity='through-the roll onv itszwaylto one or-more ofthe'chests.

It iis :a particular purpose 4of jmy invention fto kprovidea-:roll ofthe abovementioned character, whichis provided .withinner and outercylindrical :Walls i closely Iadjacent each :other to provide a vverynarrow annular passage between said lwallsextendingflengthwiseoffsaid-roll which constitutesyan1annular-s1ot-1ike passage for heating@fluid running from an n inlet chamber .at one end or said roll .toanoutlet chamber at the other end thereof, through which said fluid .11s4caused .to @glow-.at lhigh velocity.

at fa. maximum temperature lbetween the metal of the ironing surfacewall and-the `:heating fluid.

Other lobiectsxand radvantages hf kmy :invenition :will appear :as .thevdescription of the :drawings proceeds. .I Adesire to :have itunderstood,

however, that lado 'inot'intend to .limit myself to theparticular.'detailsshownfor described, except as deiined' in theclaims.V

.'Fig. `1:is.a..-fragmentar-y .vertical sectional viewthroughiaJQQrtion:oafanironing machine embodyling .my'inventiom '.theshowing .being somewhat diagramnratical;v

.,Fig.: Zeisza section .takenonthelne .f2-2710i Fig.

,1, :partly `lcrok'en away. v

Fig..3:is a section similarztol'ig. 2,;ofthe-tleft larged scale.

Fig. v4 .a section talen s ongthe .line fA--A pof IFig. 3. s

Fig. 631s :a-diagrammatic view fof ,the #ironing means-andthe. means forsupplyingheated liquid theretofpartlybken away.

vtliig. 'Us .a fragmentary Ivertical sectional -View ,through 'a portionl'of anzironiirgmachine utilizing; 'steamzneated .chests .andzincludi-ngmyinvention,A

Fig.` 8:.isz a fragmentary-,view inv elevationgtaken substantially onthe lineflof Fig. 7.' L Y Referring in detail vto the drawings, riingEig; 1

- is shown an vironingy machine, which has a frame,

indicated generally hy'ztl'i'emumeraltl, .on which is provided ;a`receiving table lil vrover Ywhich con-lv veyor .means lf2,;made intheform `of .bandelike members, extends .to carry .the ywork into-theY,rality triband-.like members lf3;that 'operate .overv a; series ofrolls 1 I5, I 6 and lf'l ,said lbands being driven Ain any desiredmanner, Eby any suitable .driving means, any oneof rthe rolls, such asthe roll l5,;ifor example, .being driven from a suitable :source ofpower Vand the remaining rolls rotating vfreelylonitheir. axes. The roll.llisadjustableso v as to vary :the tension of the bands I3 and vary thepressure .'exertedby saidbands onthe ironing .suracexformedonthe ,convexside of the curved bottom Wall 2D ofthestationary .ironing memberV22,.,supported from frame vmembers 23 andhav- 'ing sidewalls .2|andagainst the surface of the kroll L25.

Said ironing `member is heated vvby a liquid :discharged from. a liquidvdistributing member .24, whichis ,described m-ore in detail in my:Patent .No..2,324,029,on Heatingmeans for ironiers, patentedJuly 13,19.43.

:A heated ro1l,.ndicated generallyby the nu- ,meraI'ZEJnrFi-g. 1, isprovdedbetween the roll |1 and the stationary ironing member having theconvex ironing surface on the outer face of the wall 29, above referredto, said heated roll being, preferably, rotated by means of any suitabledriving means, such as for example, by means of a sprocket chainextending from a driven roller, such as the roller IB, to the roll 25,suitable sprockets 26 on the roll |6, and 21 on the roll 25 beingconnected by means of a chain 23, and it will be noted that the sprocket21 is substantially half the size of the sprocket 26, havingsubstantially half the number of teeth of said sprocket 26. It will beobvious that as a result the outer surface of the roll 25 will have alineal speed in excess of twice the lineal speed of the bands I3 wherethese contact the roll 25, the pressure with which said bands engagesaid roll being determined by the adjustment of the roll l1.

The construction of the roll 25 is shown more in detail in Figs. 2, 3, 4and 5, comprising a central ironing portion that has an outercylindrical wall portion 29 and an inner cylindrical wall portion 39,said wall portions being spaced apart by means of spacing members 3| soas to provide a narrow annular slot-like passage, or space, between saidwalls 29 and 39, the same being indicated by the numeral 32. The spacingmembers 3| are merely small rectangular block-like members, as will beevident from the drawings, that are welded to the outer surface of theinner cy lindrical member 3|] and to the inner surface of the outercylindrical member 29 at the ends of said cylindrical members 29 and 39.Thus an annular passage 32 of a very restricted character is providedrunning lengthwise of the roll between the walls 29 and 39. A tubularmember 33 is connected with the outer cylindrical member 29 by means ofa connecting member 34, that is welded to the cylindrical member 29, andwhich is Welded to, and nts against the shoulder 35 on the member 33. Atubular member 36 is similarly connected by means of a member 31 withthe other end of the cylindrical member 29. Said tubular members 33 and36 serve as hollow shaft portions that are mounted in the bearings 38provided on the frame I 0. The sprocket member 21 is mounted to rotatewith the tubular member 33 to thus drive the roll 25.

An inlet pipe 39 is provided, which extends from a fluid heater,preferably, a heater 12 for a liquid that is of high boiling point,which is utilized for heating the roll, as well as the stationaryironing member, and a collar 49 is fixed onsaid inlet pipe 39, againstwhich a rotatable collar 4| bears, said rotatable collar 4| bearingagainst the internal shoulder 42 provided in the tubular member 33. Saidtubular member 33 is externally threaded at 43 and a packing nut 44 hasinternal threads engaging with the threads 43 to force a flanged collar45, which is rotatably mounted on the member 39, into engagement with aplurality of plies of compressible packing 46. Thus a liquid tight jointis provided between the stationary pipe 39 and the rotatable tubularmember 33, and said inlet pipe 39 empties into the inlet chamber 41,provided in the tubular member 33 and the connecting member 34 leadinginto one end of the annular passage 32. The tubular member 36 isprovided with a similar means for providing a fluid tight joint betweenitself and the stationary outlet pipe 48, the space within the tubularmember 35 and within the member 31 serving as an outlet chamber 49,which is connected with the outlet pipe 43, and into which the fluidpassing lengthwise through the roll between the walls 29 and 3Udischarges to be carried from the roll. It will be noted that saidchambers 41 and 49 are of much greater cross sectional area than theannular slot-like passage 32.

Preferably, a liquid is utilized to heat the roll, and it will beobvious that the chamber 1| between the end Walls 5U and the cylindricalwall 30 is closed off from the heating liquid, the walls 50 being weldedto the wall 39, as will be obvious. Thus the heating liquid circulatedby the pump 13 through pipe 14 will enter through the pipe 39 into theinlet chamber 41 and then ow at a rapid rate in a thin annular streamthrough the narrow, thin, attenuated, or restricted, passage 32lengthwise of the roll in contact with the inner surface of the wall 29,the outer surface of which serves as the convex ironing surface of theroll, and out through the outlet chamber 49 to the outlet pipe 48 backto the heating means for the heating liquid through the pump 13, or toany suitable apparatus that may be heated thereby before such return.

The roll 25 will thus be highly heated on the ironing surface thereof bythe liquid, which may have a temperature as high as 500 degreesFahrenheit without boiling, and will be traveling in the directionindicated by the arrow in Fig. 1 at a rate at its surface about twicethat of the conveyor bands i3.

Instead of providing the smoothing,or nishing, roll on an ironer of thetype above described, the same can be applied to a conventional flatwork ironer, having a stationary ironing member 5I, such as shown inFig. '7, with which the rotatable padded members 52 cooperate to carrythe work through the machine in engagement with said stationary shoe, orchest-like member. Said chest-like member is, preferably, provided witha .plurality of chambers, or steam chests, 53, into which the branchpipes 54 from the steam pipe 55 lead. The work, in a machine of thischaracter, is fed from a table 56 by means of band-like members V51passing over the same toward the statlonary ironing member 5|, and inthe particular machine shown, additional conveyor bands 58 are provided,operating over the rolls 59 and 69 for feeding the work to thestationary ironing member. Cooperating with said conveyor members 58 isa heated wrinkle removing finishing roll 25', similar to the roll 25 inall respects, except as described below.

A pair of nexible aprons, of an endless beltlike character, 6| and 62are provided in a machine of this character, the apron 6| carrying thework under the stationary ironing member 5| in engagement therewith fromleft to right after the same has passed from right to left of theironing member on top of the ironing member, and then said aprons V6|and 62 carry the work back between the same to the other end of themachine, which is not shown. The apron 62 is driven by means of a drivenroll 63 and, preferably, the roll 69 is driven from the roll 63 by meansof a sprocket chain 64, while the roll 25' is driven by means of asprocket chain 65 operating over a sprocket wheel 66, which rotates withthe driven conveyor roll 52, and over a sprocket 61 mounted to rotatewith the roll 25'. The rate of rotation of the rolls 52 and 63 and thesize of the sprockets utilized is such that the roll 25 will rotate atsubstantially twice the lineal surface speed of the roll 69, and thusthe lineal surface speed of the roll 25 will be substantially twice thelineal speed of the bands 58.

Referring to Fig. 8, an inlet pipe 68 for live fazisasso 25',as shown inFig.l8, passingthrough thelnarrow passagebetween the inner andoutercylindrical vportions 29 and 3B, previously described, and throughthe outlet chamber into the discharge pipe 69. The discharge pipe 59 iscon- -nected with the pipe 55, as will be obvious from Fig. 7, whichsupplies the steam to the chests '53, and the chests 53 are providedwith suitable return conduits, which may be provided with suitabletraps, and so on, asis customary, between the same andthe boiler, orother means for creating the steam, which is `not shown, as the same isconventional.

lIt .will ibe obviousthat a rapid flow of steam through the narrowannular passage provided in the roll 25 adjoining the ironing surface,will be obtained due to the fact that the live steam will be drawnthrough the same at a rapid rate as condensation takes place inthechests 53, and that the ironing surface of the `roll .25 can be heatedYto as high a temperature as is possible with steam, without usingunduly high and unsafe pressures. VAlso theheating of the roll 25 `willbesuch that it will .have a high enough temperature as toinstantaneously remove the wrinkles from the workas the same is broughtinto vengagement Awithsaid roll ,by the conveying means 58. The roll 25is, of course, mounted in suitable bearings on the frame 'iii of theironing machine, and the sprocket wheel Gil is, of course, fixed to thetubular member 33 in a similar man nerto that describedin connectionwith the form of the invention shown in Figs. l. to 5, inclusive.

What I claim is:

l. In a flat work ironer, a roll, and means for heating said rollcomprising means providing an annular restricted passage adjoining theironing surface thereof, means for passing live steam through saidpassage lengthwise of said roll and means for accelerating the rate ofiiow of steam therethrough comprising a steam chest of said ironerconnected with the discharge end of said passage.

2. In a laundry machine, a rotatable cylindrical member of much greaterlength than diameter and means for heating the same, said rotatablemember comprising a pair of long imperforate tubular members coaxiallyarranged one within the other, the outer diameter of the inner tubularmember closely approaching the inner diameter of the outer tubularmember to define a long narrow slot-like smooth walled duct of uniformannular cross section and unobstructed from end to end thereoftherebetween, said inner tubular member being closed at its ends, aninlet chamber at one end of said rotatable member leading endwise intoone end of said duct, an outlet chamber at the other end of saidrotatable member leading endwise from the other end of said duct, aninlet for heating fluid leading centrally into said inlet chamber, anoutlet for heating fluid leading centrally from said outlet chamber,said inlet and outlet chambers and said heating fiuid inlet and outletbeing all of much greater cross sectional area than said duct to inducerapid flow of heating fluid lthrough said duct parallel to the axis ofsaid cylindrical member, and means for withdrawing heating fluid fromsaid outlet.

3. In an ironing machine, an elongated tubular roll of a diameter thatis a small fraction of its length having inner and outer closelyadjacent lout slightly spaced walls each of uniform diameter throughoutthe length `*thereof defining an annular restricted smooth walled butunobstructed passage between the same, the .space between said vwallsbeing minute `in `relation to the length of said passage, an inletchamber at one end of said yroll opening directly into one end of saidpassage, an outlet chamber at ythe other end of said roll openingdirectly into .the other endof said passage, said chambers beingofgreater cross sectional area than saidpassage, said passage beingotherwise closed and `being of uniform cross section fromendtoendthereof, means for introducing heating `fluid into said inlet chamber,an outletconnection leading from saidroutlet chamber, and means forcreating a positive flow of fluid lengthwise of saidroll from said inletchamber to said outlet chamber.

4. In an ironingvmachinaan axially elongated rotatable member, and meansfor Vheating vthe same, comprising an inner-closed ended elongatedpipe-like tube and anV outer open endedelongated pipe-like tube, theinner wall of said outertube and the'outer wall of said inner tubebeing` closely spaced throughout their length to define anattenuatedsmooth vwalled unobstructed annular duct extending between said Wallslengthwise of said rotatable member and being of the same cross sectionfrom end to end thereof, and means for passing a heating fluid `intosaid member at one end thereof Vdirectly into said passage through saidpassage at high velocity and out of said member at the other end thereofdirectly .from saidpassage.

5. In an-ironing machinefanielongated tubular roll of a diameter that isa small fraction of its length having a cylindrical wail providing anironing surface on the outer side thereof, and means for heating saidironing surface to a high temperature, comprising an elongated tubularmember of uniform external diameter slightly smaller in diameter thanthe bore of said cylindrical wall co-axially arranged within the same toprovidea long narrow slit-like unobstructed heating fluid conduit ofuniform cross sectional area co-extensive with said cylindrical wall andextending lengthwise of said roll closely adjacent said ironing surface,and means for creating a rapid uniform flow of heating fluid lengthwiseof said roll through said conduit from one end to the other end of saidcylindrical wail.-

6. In an ironing machine, an elongated tubular roll of a diameter thatis a small fraction of its length comprising an outer elongated tubeproviding an ironing surface on the outer side thereof, and means forheating said ironing surface to a high temperature, comprising an innerelongated tube of uniform external diameter and of slightly smallerdiameter than and co-axially arranged within said outer tube, thinspacing means between said tubes at the ends of the latter so as toprovide a long narrow slit-like unobstructed heating fluid duct ofuniform cross sectional area co-extensive with said ironing surface andextending lengthwise of said roll so as to be closely adjacent saidironing surface and means for creating a rapid uniform flow of heatingfluid lengthwise of said duct through said duct from one end to theother end of said tubular roll, comprising an unobstructed inlet chamberat one end of said duct open thereto to substantially the full crosssectional area of said duct, an unobstructed outlet chamber at the otherend of said duct open thereto to substantially the full cross sectionalarea of said duct, said chambers being of greater cross sectional areathan said duct.

l roll having a diameter that is a small fraction of its length, saidroll comprising an inner pipelike imperforate tubular member of uniformexternal diameter closed at its ends and an outer pipe-like imperforatetubular `member of uniform inner and outer diameter, thin spacing meansbetween said inner and outer members to mount said members co-,axiallyin close adjacency to dene an unobstructed long narrow slot-like duct ofuniform cross section between said members extending lengthwise of saidrollrfrom end to end of said inner pipe-like member, and means forheating said roll comprising means for rapidly passing heating iluidlengthwise of said roll through said duct. 1

8. In a laundry machine, a rotatable cylindrical roll having a diameterthat is a small fraction of its length, said roll comprising an innerpipelike imperforate tubular member of uniform external diameter closedat its ends and an outer pipe-like imperforate tubular member of uniforminner and outer diameter, thin spacing means between said inner andouter members to mount said members co-axially in close adjacency todene an unobstructed long narrow slot-like duct of uniform cross sectionbetween said members extending lengthwise of said roll from end to endof said inner pipe-like member, and means for heating said rollcomprising means for rapidly passing heating uid lengthwise of said rollthrough said duct, comprising an inlet chamber of larger cross sectionalarea than said duct at one end of said roll opening endwise intosaidduct, an inlet connection of larger cross sectional areathan said ductleading into said inlet chamber, an outlet chamber of larger crosssectional area than said duct at the other end of said roll into whichsaid duct opens endwise, an outlet connection of larger cross sectionalarea than said duct leading from said outlet chamber and means forrapidly withdrawing fluid from said outlet connection.

JOSEPH B. SANDO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 311,913 Patterson Feb. 10, 1885390,756 Corbett Oct. 9, 1888 1,379,312 Peth -May 24, 1921 1,583,333Bigum May 4, 1926 1,651,502 Banbury Dec. 6, 1927 1,768,156 Schroder June24, 19.30 1,820,074 Kilborn Aug. 25, 1931 1,837,562 Mayer Dec. 22, 19312,322,957 Sullivan June 29, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date348,464 Great Britain May 14, 1931 629,806 Germany May 13, 1936

